Very often the guitar a player is used to (or lusts after) is the standard by which they judge other guitars.

I seem to have an appreciation for the sound of solid wood instruments and like the variety of timbres available. Sometimes the big fat bluegrass dread is the ticket, sometimes the tight waisted auditorium turns my crank, sometimes low, sometimes high, 12, electric, whatever. Once that threshold standard of quality, playability and sound is set, it's a matter of apples and orages.

I get to play a lot of pretty good guitars, hanging out at jams, festivals, stores, and knowing folks with the goods...sometimes I start to change my tastes. But in the end, I always come back to the sound of my favourite. Spruce top, rosewood back and sides, mahogany neck, ebony board and bridge, maple binding, some inlay but otherwise conservatively adorned. I can be tempted by others, but nothing makes me happier than the guitar that sets the standard in my mind.

If I had the resources today I'd like to have another Beneteau 6 made in the style of my first except with a cedar top for variety. Trouble is, I'd have to play it in like the first one.

Anyway, once the ears and mind develop a bias, that bias becomes the standard by which other guitars are judged.

My 2 cents.

Peace, Mooh.